Brief History of VOPE
Founded in 2008, The Khana Group (TKG) is now Liberia’s largest and most rigorous research firm, conducting over 20 research projects annually, including about 4 large nationally representative surveys (1000+). TKG recruits and trains over 300 data collectors/researchers annually, manages multiple development projects/programs and provide support to various projects/programs.
The Khana Group has worked in 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and have offices in Ghana, Liberia, and Nigeria. The firm is known and has a strong reputation across Africa for its quality project delivery, rigorous data collection, research and M&E services that support evidence-based policy development.
Profile of VOPE
The Khana Group (TKG) is a social impact advisory firm with a mission to develop sustainable solutions to positively impact and transform communities in Africa.
With offices in Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria and the United States, the firm focuses on delivering customized solutions and quality services in research and policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation (M&E), capacity development, technology and innovation, and strategy across various sectors, including health, agriculture, education and economic growth.
Our consultants have both private and public-sector experiences with local expertise, informed by global perspective. Our experts have worked with a variety of international agencies, multinationals and Fortune ranked corporations including the World Bank, United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Nations, Deloitte, McKinsey & Company and others.
The Khana Group has completed numerous of these types of projects. Our experience ranges from research to report writing and everything in between – rigorous data analysis, data quality assessments, data collection and report dissemination, capacity development, ICT and Innovation.
Vennessa K. Smith
Our Point of Contact, Vennessa Smith, is a Research and Operations Coordinator at The Khana Group. She is responsible for operational coordination for research and project activities, including logistics, financial and human resource management for the Liberia office.
With a B.Sc in Development Studies, Vennessa has managed and deployed teams for research data collection for over 30 research and evaluation projects in Liberia. She ensures that all Standard Operating Procedures for data collection are adhered to, project finance is efficiently managed, and field work implementation is successful. She has experience delivering projects for international donors such as UNMIL and USAID, Unicef and several other international NGOs and private philanthropists across Africa.
Our Core Areas
Our Partners
CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS
Rosetti Nabbumba Nayenga
President
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Dr. Awuor PONGE
Vice President
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Isaac Kiwango
Treasurer
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Dr. Shylock Muyengwa
South Africa Representative President
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Eddah Kanini
East Africa Representative
Until 1999 there were few opportunities to network and share evaluation experiences in Africa. Evaluators worked in isolation. They were seldom trained in evaluation approaches, methodologies and standards, and tended to be technical specialists or management consultants recruited to serve as evaluation consultants.
Although a few national evaluation networks existed, they were isolated and often unable to mobilize the capacities and resources to facilitate effective networking and sharing of knowledge within and between countries. Evaluation capacity building efforts were sporadic and mostly driven by international development organisations.
There were few attempts to nurture advanced level evaluation expertise, to promote training placed in African contexts and evaluation approaches, or to highlight African evaluation expertise on international platforms. Demand for evaluation was low and the use of evaluation for learning and decision-making limited and dominated by accountability to international aid agencies.
AfrEA was founded in 1999 to address some of these challenges. It was established as an umbrella association for national evaluation associations and networks, and as a resource for evaluators in countries without such networks. Like other evaluation associations around the world, AfrEA is not exclusive. Its constituency consists of national associations and networks that include professional evaluators as well as policy makers, academics, government officials, researchers, development practitioners and any other individuals interested in evaluation.
AfrEA Founder, who presented a keynote address at the 8th AfrEA Conference in Uganda, had this to say about AfrEA’s early days:
Download the early day history from Dr. Mahesh Patel here.
Sîm-Yassah Awilêlo BADJO
Chief of Secretariat
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Abigail Korda
Operations Manager
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Anthony Klokpey
Office Manager
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Kevin French
Information Technology
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